


this is the moon, this is the sun

by playedwright



Series: the universe was made to be seen by our eyes [10]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Astronauts, Bedtime Stories, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Inspired by The Martian (Weir), Kid Fic, M/M, this is really just richie being cute asf with his kid thats all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-22
Updated: 2020-06-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24852103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/playedwright/pseuds/playedwright
Summary: “You like the stars, Stel?”She nods against him again. He can feel her getting sleepy, just curled up against him looking out the window. He counts her small breaths until he feels calm himself.“Can I tell you a story about the stars?” he asks.“Yes, please,” she whispers. His perfect girl.Richie hums. He rocks back and forth in the chair, holding Stella close against him. “Alright. So here’s the thing about the stars."
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: the universe was made to be seen by our eyes [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565464
Comments: 40
Kudos: 315





	this is the moon, this is the sun

**Author's Note:**

> once upon a time i made a throwaway tweet saying happy father's day to martian au richie and eddie even tho i hadn't given them a kid yet and then i was like i should do that then i was texting [cj](https://twitter.com/babylovestan) and [hannah](https://twitter.com/loveyrichie) and cj made me feel cuckoo bananas even tho i was trying to make them feel cuckoo bananas so then i wrote 2k words to cope
> 
> anyway happy father's day to martian au richie and eddie and if u need they are ur dads now welcome to the family ilu

She’s two and a half years old when her sleep schedule finally goes to shit.

Eddie and Richie had a  _ system.  _ They knew how to get Stella down. They’ve figured out which one of her tired cries means she’s going to fall asleep better if it’s Richie putting her to bed or if it’s Eddie. They’ve gone through the phases where she can’t have the pacifier but has to have the blanket, or can’t have the blanket but has to have the sippy cup. And she’s honestly been an angelic sleeper, up until this point.

The problem is, they just can’t get her to  _ fall  _ asleep.

Richie lets out a long and drawn out sigh when he hears her puttering around in her crib. He drops his head onto Eddie’s shoulder. “She’s up again,” Richie murmurs.

Eddie’s shoulders droop. “I sang her three nighttime songs,” he complains. “One of them was fucking. Holding Out For A Hero. She loves that one. I swear, Richie, she was almost asleep when I tucked her in.”

“I’m thinking it’s time we try to bore her to sleep, Richie says darkly. Eddie laughs a little. “I’m serious. We’re scientists. Some of the shit we do is boring as fuck. Droning on and on about regenerative muscle tissue might put her to sleep.”

“Oh, because your lesson plans are so much more interesting,” Eddie gripes.

“They  _ literally are,  _ I’m teaching people how to survive in impossible fucking situations! I have interesting and applicable lectures! I am not boring!”

Eddie rubs a reassuring circle into Richie’s back. “Keep telling yourself that, baby,” he hums. Richie pinches Eddie’s side and then hides his face in the crook of Eddie’s neck when Eddie yelps and goes to retaliate. “Well. Shockingly, it’s not your worst idea.”

“Oh, it’s not.”

“Duct-taping the fucking hole in the Hab and hoping that wouldn’t tear and instantly kill you,” Eddie says dryly. “Offering to Iron-Man your way to me. Eating mashed potatoes three years ago and immediately throwing them up. Karaoke.”

Richie laughs against Eddie’s neck. “Fuck you, karaoke was a great idea.”

“I’m  _ saying,  _ maybe talking to her isn’t a bad idea,” Eddie continues. His finger traces up and down Richie’s back. “We already know she likes the sound of your voice. It might soothe her to sleep.”

Richie sits up. “So you want me to lull our infant daughter with my boring, monotone voice?”

“It’s not boring. It’s familiar. And it might help her,” Eddie says. His brow wrinkles and Richie resists the urge to reach up and smooth it with his thumb. “Fall asleep, I mean. And convince her that botany isn’t real science, so she can grow up wanting to do something normal.”

“Fuck you,” Richie says, but he’s grinning from ear to ear. He leans down and presses a slow, lingering kiss to Eddie’s mouth. Eddie’s eyes are closed and his expression is peaceful and dazed when Richie pulls back. He hopes they never lose this. “I’ll go put her down again. Bore her to death with my fake science.”

Eddie slaps Richie’s ass when Richie stands and grabs his cane to walk away. His laugh is bright and unfiltered when Richie turns to shoot him a withering look.

Stella’s room is right across from the master, down the hall just a little from the living area. They wanted it that way on purpose, since some days are worse than others for Richie to try and get out of bed and make it to their daughter. And he loves it, being so close to her. Loves that on his worst days he’s only a few steps away from being able to peek in her room and see her and loves that on his best days she’s not so far away that he can make it to her in seconds. He loves it. He loves that this is his life.

“Babyface,” Richie singsongs, as he quietly eases the door to Stella’s room open. She’s already standing, pressed up against the bars of her crib. She bounces up and down on her chubby little legs when Richie comes in.

“Daddy,” she says happily. Her fists open and close as she reaches for him.

“Why are you still up, little munchkin?” Richie whispers. He eases the door halfway closed before crossing the room and picking her up. She goes easily, settling against him and nuzzling her nose into his hoodie collar. “It’s bedtime.”

“No,” she argues. She reaches up and puts her palm on the corner of his mouth until he smiles. “Happy?”

Richie shifts so he can press a kiss to her palm. Stella’s hand drops quickly back to her chest with a sweet giggle. “I’d be happier if you would go to sleep.”

“No,” she says again.

“Why not?” Richie asks.

Stella points at the window. “Wanna see.”

Richie’s heart skips a beat in his chest. “The stars?” he asks. “You want to see the stars?”

She nods. Her curls tickle his neck. His heart is in his throat. Quietly, Richie walks to the window and opens the curtains a little before sinking into the rocking chair placed right by it. “There ya go, little darlin’, is that what you were wanting?”

“Stars,” Stella mumbles.

“Stars,” Richie agrees. “You like the stars, Stel?”

She nods against him again. He can feel her getting sleepy, just curled up against him looking out the window. He counts her small breaths until he feels calm himself.

“Can I tell you a story about the stars?” he asks.

“Yes, please,” she whispers. His perfect girl.

Richie hums. He rocks back and forth in the chair, holding Stella close against him. “Alright. So here’s the thing about the stars. There was a pirate who was convinced the stars were his true love. He’d dreamt of them since he was just a little boy. He used to stretch up on his tip-tip-tiptoes, thinking if he reached hard enough, he’d be able to touch one and hold it in his hands. So every night he dreamt of the stars. He spoke to them. He promised that one day he would find them.”   
  


Stella lifts her head. Her big brown eyes look into his curiously. “Love story?” she asks.

“Yeah, honey,” Richie whispers. “This is a love story.”

Stella beams at him.

“One day,” Richie continues. Stella lays back down; she holds onto a handful of Richie’s hoodie in her small hand. “One day, the pirate was selected for a very special voyage that would take him through the stars to a very special rock. So he went to the rock, but something went wrong, and he got lost from his other friends that went on the journey with him. He was stuck on the rock while they travelled through the stars without him.”

“No,” Stella whispers. She tries to sound sad but it’s masked by the fact that her eyes are finally drooping.

“Yes,” Richie says back, matching her sadness. “So the pirate was very scared. He could finally touch the stars, but something had changed. Can you guess what?”

Stella shakes her head.

“I’ll tell you,” Richie murmurs. There’s a soft smile on his face. “The pirate fell in love on the journey with a healer.”

“Love story,” Stella gasps.

Tears spring to Richie’s eyes. He presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I told you it was a love story,” he reminds her. He pinches her side lightly and laughs with her when she giggles. “But the pirate and the healer were not together. And he was very scared. But the healer had a secret power. He could tell where the pirate had gotten left behind, and he led the others back to the pirate. Because he was in love with the pirate, too.”

“Happy ever after,” Stella whispers. She’s nearly asleep now.

“Almost,” Richie agrees. “The pirate fought scary monsters that took away his air, and the healer fought an orange dragon that was trying to keep the pirate on the rock, but none of the monsters could keep them apart, and eventually they found their way back to each other. And the healer did a magic spell that gave the pirate his air back, and soon they left the stars and came back home.”

“Stars?” Stella asks. Her breath comes out in even little pants against his neck.

“The pirate still loved the stars,” Richie admits. He looks out the window. “He sometimes even missed them. But he loved the healer. And that was incomparable.”

Stella tries to say  _ incomparable,  _ but the word is too big and she’s too sleepy so it comes out garbled. Richie presses another kiss to the top of her head. “It means nothing was as good as loving the healer,” Richie explains.

She lets out a deep breath. In another moment, she’ll be asleep entirely. Richie keeps rocking back and forth.

“The healer told the pirate he loved him when they got home,” Richie continues. “They were happy. And one day, when they were out on the ocean on the pirate’s boat together, a star fell from the sky, right down next to them. The star was young, just a baby, really. And the pirate and the healer looked at each other and they thought about how both of their first loves were the stars and how the stars had brought them together, and now there was this little life in their home that tied them off and made them complete. So they picked the little star up and they wrapped her in a blanket and they brought her out from the cold. And do you know what they named her?”

Stella hums. The exact same way Eddie does when he’s half asleep and Richie is talking. Richie’s heart clenches in his chest. He loves her so much he doesn’t know how he can bear it some days.

“Stella,” he tells her.

She smiles. “Me.”

“You,” he agrees.

She’s asleep not long after.

Richie holds her, for a little while longer. He reasons that it’s to make sure she’s deeply asleep before he puts her back in his crib. He tries not to think about how she gets bigger and older and smarter every day, and how one day she’ll be so big that he won’t be able to hold her at all. For now, she fits perfectly against him, his sweet little girl, and she trusts him enough to sleep on his shoulder and not be afraid and it means everything to him.

The stars gleam outside the window, from the small glimpse he can get peeking through the curtains. It’s strange to think that he had travelled through them, once. It seems like a lifetime ago, though it was definitely not even five years ago. So much has changed since then. So much will continue to change.

“Rich,” comes a gentle voice from the doorway, and Richie looks away from the window to see Eddie leaning against the wall. There’s a soft look on his face.

“Just got her down,” Richie whispers. “Wanted to make sure she was really asleep.”

“No, I know,” Eddie promises. He’s quiet as Richie stands and gently eases Stella into her crib. She curls up the second she’s placed on the mattress. Richie covers her with the knitted yellow blanket Patty had made for her when she was first adopted.

Richie can’t bring himself to walk away yet. Eddie recognizes it, or maybe he understands, because he comes into the room fully and wraps his arms around Richie’s waist from behind, nuzzling his face into Richie’s back and inhaling deeply.

“That was a beautiful story,” Eddie whispers.

Richie starts. “You heard it?”

“Yeah,” Eddie admits sheepishly. “I was curious about what you were going to teach her about botany. Then you went off script.”

“Yeah, well,” Richie murmurs. “The kid derailed me when she said she wanted to look at the stars. Suddenly my stupid plant lecture didn’t seem as important as telling her a story about the stars.”

Eddie hums. “She loved it,” he promises. “I loved it.”

“You’re biased.”

“Have been since day one, baby,” Eddie promises him. He presses up on his tiptoes so he can press a kiss to the back of Richie’s head. “Come to bed. She’s asleep now.”

Richie looks back and catches Eddie’s gaze. Even in the darkened room, he can see the way Eddie’s eyes gleam. He’s long-since learned that this look in Eddie’s eyes is love. He presses a kiss to Eddie’s forehead.

Eddie takes his hand as they make their way quietly out of Stella’s room. Richie eases the door shut behind him. They’re quiet still, even as they pad across the floor to their room. Quiet as they shed their clothes. Quiet when Eddie rolls over and kisses Richie languidly, thoroughly. Quiet when they whisper their nightly  _ I love yous.  _

He falls asleep with Eddie’s arms wrapped around him, and he dreams of Stella watching the stars.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [tumblr](https://rchtoziers.tumblr.com/) or [twitter](https://twitter.com/SPACERICHlE) if you want to come say hello!


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